Smoking ban... Should this be allowed or is it a human rights issue??? (uk smoker)?

Answer 1

I do not drive or use a car but I smoke, is it fair for me to have to breath exhaust from cars if I don't use them? break the smoke ban every chance you get, it will use up the cops time, just do not have it in your hand or get caught with video when they get there and deny it was you.

Answer 2

this is definately a human rights issue, and im not just saying that as a smoker. i agree that smoking is right to be outlawed anywhere that serves food, eg restaurants, cafes, hospital grounds, shopping centres etc but not in pubs, clubs and private members places. that is an individuals choice. there should be non-smoking sections allocated in these establishments, or non-smokers have an alternative choice to go elsewhere. where food is served in pubs, then unless there is a garden area, then they too will have to find an alternative establishment. but the crazy thing is, that when the ban comes in, you will have more people smoking outside these estalishments on the street. then the goverment will stop that. you might as well say there's no point in us going out for a quiet drink on a friday/saturday night, but occassionally for us mum's it may be our only time of real relaxtion.

secondly, this greedy goverment will still be taking it back, by the tax raised by people still smoking. is that fair?

i know in scotland, their's people campaigning against the ban, and i think people should make a stand and do it here. its another means of controlling our human rights, and should not be allowed. if they outlaw this, then why not 'burkha's' which is even more of a threat to us through terrorism than an individuals choice to smoke. you can be polluted by the carbon dioxide produced by the dirty roads of london and all the cars on it, not just by smoke inhalation. there's two sides to 'secondary smoke' arguement!

Answer 3

I'm quite sick with how people make it out that cigarette smokers are evil. I tell you what's evil: 1. the food industry is allowed to put all sorts of chemicals (lot of them also found in cigarettes) that can bring on a full-blown asthma attack in a person who has never had any respiratory problems 2. all those non-smokers who go to and from work every single day using their cars with only one person per car (just think, you could put another four person in that car, which would mean four cars off the road! - cars also emitt carcinogens), 3. how the number of cancer patients are on the incrase despite the fact that the number of smokers have reduced considerably in the past 25 years (so we should see a decrease in heart diseases, cancers etc.) 4. that it is usually ex smokers who scream the loudest not the never smoked before people (perhaps they reall want to smoke but can't cause they'd look stupid in front of others). The list could go on, as for human rights, perhaps you haven't really got a human right to smoke, however, you do have a human right not to be victimised and bullied just because you chose to smoke.

Answer 4

I believe there should have been some kind of compromise (ie the pubs/clubs get to choose whether they want to be non-smoking or not). That would surely have been much fairer, for both sides.

Yes non-smokers have the right not to have to breathe in other people's smoke, but also the smokers should have the right to smoke in designated areas if they wish.

The carpet ban is very draconian and very one-sided. I would have been OK with it but the thing that REALLY makes me angry is the utter hypocrisy of the people who passed this law.

Do you know that the only people in the whole of the UK allowed to smoke in a bar next year will be THEM, in the House of Commons Bar?!!!?!?!?

DO AS WE SAY, NOT AS WE DO!!!!!!

Answer 5

I reckon we are all getting conned , people have the choice to go into a smoking pub or anywhere else . the same as people have the choice to smoke or not . In a restaurant or pub etc the owners can choose to whether or not to have their premises as no smoking , it is then their choice .

statistics apparently say that you chances of contracting lung cancer go up by 25% from inhaling second hand smoke , but what is the percentage to start with if 0.01 % (pure guess ) of non smokers contract lung cancer without going into a smoky environment then 1 in 40000 are at extra risk

I think our civil liberties ( or are these only for criminals and illegal immigrants ) are being breached and it is time for all of this political correctness to stop

nothing is being done to stop people smoking at home around their families , I smoke (but not indoors) and spend very little time in restaurants or pubs so how does this ban help me reduce the way I "contaminate " others

Answer 6

I'm a smoker, but I don't object to a ban. I wouldn't consider it a human rights issue either.
Example: Is it a human rights violation that you're not allowed to urinate in the street? No, it's just that it's a potential health issue and many people would find it objectionable, so controls are placed on where you're allowed to do it. The same principle applies here. The idea isn't to forbid you from smoking, so much as to place controls over where you can do it. Outdoors, it's generally permitted. In your own home you're perfectly entitled. But in enclosed public spaces it's not so straightforward. There are people who find it unpleasant and offensive, and as a smoker you have to try and respect that. I find that non-smokers tend to be more tolerant of my habit when they can see I'm trying not to subject them to it.

Answer 7

I am a smoker but never smoke outside due to me being considerate to others,if i visit a non smoking friend I don'tsmoke in their house,I agree that smoking should be banned from public places,but while on the subject of pollution then cars should also be banned as they do just as much damage if not more

Answer 8

The EU convention on human rights states that the human rights of one person cannot be used to infringe on the human rights of others, so even if it is a human rights issue, smokers would be infringing on others' rights by forcing them to smoke passively, so the smokers do not really have a leg to stand on.

Answer 9

I am a smoker. have been for over 10 years and I agree with a public places smoking ban completely. Theres not one good thing about cigarettes but quitting is so far from easy.

Answer 10

Most smokers are incredibly selfish and thoughtless and seem to think that they have an inalienable right to pollute the environment around them; they have a choice whether they smoke or not, I do not have a choice whether I breathe or not. This smoking legislation is long overdue and should be extended to all public places asap.Is it a human right to be voluntarily addicted, I think not.

Answer 11

I don't think it is a human rights issue, however it is your right to be able to smoke. I am a smoker and I don't like the ban but I think to have special areas to have a smoke is a compromise.

What grates on me though is the whingers who moan about people smoking when it is a known fact that the tax from cigarettes goes straight into the NHS to keep the whole system functioning.

The Government is not stupid as a total ban would have been a disaster for financial reasons... so when the none smokers moan about you having a cig remind them that if it was banned and they came to have that all important trip to the hospital they will be paying private out of their own pocket, while at the moment they have the luxury of not paying because it's "free"...

Compromise is welcome from all i think..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!